No Fortunate Ones:The Gallian-Imperial War
by Johnnieboy11
Summary: Escaping the madness that was Reach during its final hours, a wounded Noble Six and her compatriots, now stuck on a Covenant Corvette with no FTL, find themselves in the middle of a war for dominance between human factions, with a neutral country stuck in the middle of a conflict they didn't want no part of. Another Day, Another War
1. Prologue:Under Fire

They were all around the young woman... She fought and fought against them, but every strike, every bullet fired out of her AR took more out of her than them. An Elite's shield's flashed. Purple blood spattered the orange sand below her and it collapsed with a thud. She heard another step behind her and elbowed him in the head hard, breaking the shields. She spun about and raised her rifle, the fired a long burst into the creature's body. Plasma scorched her armor and skin. She felt the coppery taste of her own blood in her mouth as Plasma rounds tore through her breastplate, charring it and severely damaging her internal organs.

Drawing her pistol, the woman fired at both Elites with both weapons, killing one with three shots from the Pistol and gunning down the other with the AR. She felt an Elite blindside her to the ground as her vision blurred from the wounds. Coiling her leg and kicking upward, she heard the crack of a hardlight shield, then dodged as her blurry vision recorded an energy gauntlet stabbing next to her head. And then blunt force trauma forced her to close her eyes, pained.

She heard an Energy sword hiss as it powered itself up... And three snap-cracks... Tasted something tarry, like blueberry combined with a load of salt... Managing to slowly open her eyes, she gasped as she saw an Elite that was about to kill her, laying on the floor, a hole in its massive head, replacing the left eye. She felt weight on top of her. Looking at herself, she saw a second Elite, blood flowing from a cavernous wound that split its head in two, laying on her, dead. Finally, ahead of her lay the last Elite, Energy Sword fizzling and hissing as the superheated blades turned ground to glass around it. It was flopped backward, limp... Dead.

A UNSC Marksman? But she was the last UNSC soldier on this side of Reach. Unless Jun... No, he was a good few hundred clicks away, with Halsey. Then who... She leaned her head fully back, to see light reflecting off a Sniper's scope. She saw a red laser trailing with interruptions through the dusty air, moving erratically. She gasped as she saw it snap upward and heard another snap and a crack. An Elite gargled blood ahead of her, falling to its knees, then limply flopping into the ground.

The girl soon realized she had to move... Pushing the Elite's corpse off of her and struggling to do so, the girl felt her muscles give out. She gritted her bloody teeth, pushing the damn thing off, then straightened up. She felt a stabbing pain surge throughout her body. Her bones and muscles, broken and healing, felt like they were burning worse than back in training. She swore as she tumbled to the side, then grunted and tried to push herself up using her hands. She dropped back down immediately...

Another sniper shot rang out, this one closer than its predecessors... Two grunts screamed painfully, before they dropped. An Elite roared in pain, kneecapped. The girl had to crawl... She'd have to get to the sniper, wounded as she was. Another shot, this one way closer... To her right. She turned over, drew her pistol and fired at two grunts and a Jackal about to pounce on her. All 3 died. She heard the roar of a Shotgun, then looked up to see it... Tar-black armor, a dark-blue visor. The armor was a standard-issue for Spartan Scouts. RECON helmet, a lot of combat rigging and webbing on his chest. She saw an emblem on the breastplate she couldn't make out, but the colors, red and blue...

"Alice!" The Spartan called out, his voice full of worry... Six's eyes widened, pupils narrowed. Her name... He called her by her name. And that voice. It couldn't be... He knelt beside her, checking her armor and wounds, then looked at her and said "You took a beating. I'll fix you up on the Bird, but for now, you gotta hang on. You copy? Nod once if yes."

She nodded out of reflex. The Spartan gave her a thumbs up, went to retrieve her broken helmet and ran back. He took out a canister of biofoam and utilized it. The self-sealing foam felt cold. She felt the pressure as her wounds began to heal slowly. She looked at the Spartan and struggled, attempting to talk to him. Nothing came out but air. He turned his head to her, then said reassuringly "Calm, Allie. I ain't here to hurt ya." before picking her up in a bridal carry. The girl panted, her breathing erratic.

"Stay with me, girl." The Spartan told her calmly. The girl faded in and out of consciousness. She knew the voice-and the Spartan whom it belonged to-all too well. His ID Tag, his name and by God his face... But ONI told her he'd been killed. Hell, that his entire team died hours before, in New Alexandria. Could they've been misinformed? It wasn't the first time it'd happened.

That'd have to wait... She felt an unbearable pressure and pain in her chest. The girl's eyes fluttered open slowly, allowing her to see a metallic ceiling above her. To her left and right, she saw a dozen chairs and above them, webbing holding equipment overhead. The girl tried breathing deeply, then coughed and groaned, to which she heard his voice again, this time not muffled by the helmet's speakers "Well, you're up..."

She looked over at the cockpit, to see him seated in the command chair, face visible as he'd turned to greet her... That smile. That warm, welcoming smile... The emerald eyes. The slick black hair. There he was... She froze up, feeling her throat become rash. The girl gritted her teeth, then planted her forehead on the grated floor, before looking up again and speaking in a raspy voice "A-Aiden?"

The boy smiled "Yeah. Sorry for the scare... I imagine ONI, before they bugged out, told ya the news of me and Fireteam Sabot goin' 'MIA'. Overexaggeration if you ask me..."he chuckled... and then sighed deeply gazing forward and out of the cockpit "I'm sorry about Noble, Alice... Honestly, I am. I know how it is to lose the whole team, just like you do." and he continued piloting "But alas, we're Spartans..."

"What are you doing?" She asked, seeing as stars appeared outside the ship. The boy nodded, then said "We're bugging out... Finding a ship that's at least still partially intact and slipspacing the hell out of here. Gotta find a way to that Rally Point set up by the Navy's remnants before shit hit the proverbial fan." and he leaned over to a console and tapped a few buttons.

"... Damn... So that's that?" Alice sighed, leaning back and trying to breathe normally.

"Mhm..." Aiden hummed, looking about and trying to keep the Pelican stealthed with as little movement from the Thrusters as possible. In the far distance, the young man could see the massive whale-like bodies of the Covenant vessels as they burned parts of Reach with their full and uncensored Plasma arsenal. With a deep sigh, he saw most of the world's sizzling ocean down below, turning into vapor as loose lasers hit them. With a deep sigh, the boy bit down on the anger and desire he felt to straight-up charge at them with his bird and instead opted to go further into the debris field.

Among it, he could see remnants from the space battle that had finished no less than five hours ago. UNSC Ships, cleaved in half by Plasma fire, peppered with holes from the lasers or just completely destroyed. On the opposite end of the spectrum, the lilac-grey hulls of the Covenant ships were on the far right of the field. Several corvettes and a CCS cruiser, all mostly intact save for the massive holes left by the MAC rounds in their engines and mostly across the bodies. There was also that sliced Covenant Supercarrier, courtesy of Noble Five, God rest his soul.

"Up for a ride on a Covenant ship?" The boy quipped. Alice chuckled, then groaned and say "Sure, why not... Can't be worse than sitting here."

He halted, hearing a comm ping, then heard Morse Code... He swiveled his head about and saw a UNSC ship, almost entirely intact save for half of its engine nacelle being missing. The Morse Code was sent in a strange way... The words made the lyrics of an old Finnish song. _Njet Molotoff._ It was an odd way to send a distress signal, to say the least, but hell if the Spartan could second-guess it... Most likely aboard was an AI that couldn't purge him or herself in the Cole Protocol and was trying to make a memorable, if somewhat funny, finale.

"AI Pinged us... I think it knows we're here." Aiden warned. Alice coughed, then told him calmly "I say we go swipe it... We'll bust the chip and blow ourselves up aboard a Covie ship if they find us."

"Color me impressed..." Aiden murmured as he brought the craft into a docking position with the UNSC ship. Landing quietly into the hangar, the Spartan grabbed his gear, sealed his suit and gave Alice her helmet back, before sealing that as well with Biofoam. He nodded to her, then said "Keep yourself safe until I come back. If any covie comes in here, ring me. You know my frequency."

"Aye..." Alice sighed, pushing herself to a seated position and drawing her handgun. "Go get the AI."

... Been waiting for over an hour. She could swear this was gonna go worse than usual, wasn't it?

Oh, fuck. She saw Plasma bolts striking the wall ahead. She gasped as she saw the shadow of a Spartan dash in, followed by a squad of ODSTs, all firing rifles and pistols at a Covenant squad. Alarms began to blare as the soldiers climbed aboard. Aiden was last to join, his M6D Magnum roaring. Alice heard the screeches of dead grunts and the roar of an Elite as its shields were pelted by gunfire.

"GUNNERY SERGEANT, TAKE THE STICK!" Aiden called out, slamming the button to close the door in behind them. The girl saw the ODSTs take their seats, each of them with customized armor and each carrying a different set of gear. Alice gasped as she saw an ID Tag from the GySgt. flash on her HUD. **BUCK.** The guy she'd rescued back in New Alexandria.

She felt the bird lurch out of the hangar as bolts of Plasma followed it into the void. Wisps of energy rounded the ship's sides and slammed into debris left by the Navy vessel they'd just sped out of. The girl could see the detonations of the Titanium plates that were ripped off lighting up the dead of night. Flares lit up the sky behind the bird as the bird swung through the debris to evade the Plasma rounds. The Spartan girl gritted her teeth, a droplet of hardened biofoam landing in between them. She tasted blood and copper... The Covenant knew where they were and her wounds were opening back up... _Fuck._

"Fuck me..." An ODST swore. "We're being tailed by Seraphs! Gunny, can you fucking drive any faster?!"

"Trying to, Romeo!" The Sergeant answered.

"What's the plan, Aiden?" Alice asked her friend, gripping onto her side. The boy nodded, then answered her calmly "Gunnery Sergeant, aim for the nearest Covie Corvette. It's gotta drown its shields to fire at us. We'll dive right in after the first torpedo barrage and fuck its crew up, then grab it and hitch a ride out of here... And pray to whatever God you lot believe in that this AI can stop the Self-Destruct."

"That's a fucked-up plan, with all due respect!" The Sniper ODST, Romeo, called out.

"Well, it's the only thing we got, Trooper." The Spartan returned sternly. "On my mark, you boost our asses toward the fucking Corvette, Sarge."

"We're rolling dice, Spartan! If we fuck up and roll a one, we'll be dead and gone before we even reach halfway into that thing's hull!" Buck warned as he maneuvered to try and escape the incoming fire. Aiden chuckled darkly, then said "Our odds. We have to roll a 20 right now for Luck. Tell me you've got that kinda Luck, Bucky Brown." before reloading his sniper "If not, I'll clear out that ship for you and you can land."

"And we have to evade Seraphs and Plasma fire from a now-converging Covie fleet..." Alice noted "I'm praying you've got a Good Luck roll, Danny..." She smirked behind her helmet. "We gotta finish that DnD game from back at base..." to which the boy smiled too. Indeed, they'd have to finish that game some time soon, the two nerds of Beta Company... He looked ahead at the cockpit as Buck made the bird dance around Plasma Fire... He grinned, then, as they approached... Then nodded "Now, Sarge! Kick the afterburners!" and locked his boots to the metal floor as the bird throttled up to maximum speed... A heat wave of plasma came from the sleek-looking Covenant corvette, its rounds narrowly missing the gunship and charring the top of its hull...

The bird swung in, firing its guns as a Spirit gunship tried to take off, before hitting backward thrusters as it slid into the hangar, right through the now-open hardlight shield, before it shut itself behind them. The bird landed, with Aiden being the first one out, rifle drawn and firing into a squad of 5 grunts. Lead pelted alien alloys as 5,56x45mm AP NATO Rounds burst through the thin, light skin of methane-breathing squeakers.

A sniper rifle echoed through the cavernous hull, bursting the shield and helmet of an Elite as it rushed down a ramp, firing its plasma rifle. It fell in a crumpled heap to the Floor as its brothers fired from elevated catwalks and the cover of doors... Out of instinct, Jonah caught a second handgun out of midair and saw a grinning Alice, giving a thumbs up at him, her helmet off her head... She nodded and said "Go get'em, Two Hands!"

Aiden nodded, before dashing forward, ahead of the ODSTs under their covering fire, both pistols drawn and firing as he ran. Rounds bounced off or detonated on shields, the large bullets tearing through smaller, unshielded Grunts and sending Elites and Jackals reeling. The Spartan ran and jumped, using all his strength to put him up on a catwalk, whilst firing midair. His guns roared continuously and Covenant corpses dropped one after the other. The man landed on top, practically having cleared the catwalk. He dropped the empty clips of his pistols, barrels still smoking, then slid in fresh ones from his belt, locking them in with satisfying clicks and a grin wider than humanly possible.

He spun around and fired round after round into another squad as it advanced toward him. Heat washed his armor and he saw his shields flare, dropping chunk by chunk as Plasma rounds hit him. He felt his skin slightly blister under the armor, but he kept moving, pelting the Elites, Jackals and Grunts with rounds. Two Elites received the full brunt of a full magazine from each pistol, their bodies mangled as their plasma rounds washed over Aiden... His armor started to heat as the hardlight shield began to die. Warnings blared within his helmet, which he ignored for the sake of run-and-gunning to clear out the area.

He looked below at the ODSTs firing from behind the cover of their Pelican, plasma and tracers being exchanged rather regularly. The hull of the Pelican began to show scorch marks, black dots and dents from the erratic strikes of the Covenant weapons. The Spartan turned his guns to greet a line of advancing grunts going off to the side. Direct headshots sent the little critters tumbling head over heels.

The Spartan then threw two Frag grenades over the edges of the catwalks. They detonated, sending more grunts flying and wounding two Elites. He jumped off the edge, pistols drawn and fired at the shieldless elites. Two headshots in each added them to the bodycount, before kicking a grunt to the floor, headshotting it and snapping another's neck...

A room full of bullet holes, a lot of dead Covies and blood repainting the walls all around them. A Spartan/ODST mission done right. The Spartan holstered his own handgun and walked toward Alice, into the Pelican, before handing her the weapon and saying "We've got the bridge to clear and then we're gonna blow this fucking joint." to which the girl nodded.

"Leave me here. I can keep the dickheads off the bird if we need to make a quick escape..." The girl smirked, trying to stand up. She grunted as blood foamed at the corners of her mouth. Aiden wanted to make her sit down, but he knew her better. She'd just stand right the fuck back up after he left... So, with a heavy heart, he nodded to her, then looked to the ODSTs and said "Two of you stay here with Alice and the bird. Eyes peeled." before walking off with the rest.

The Spartan and ODSTs rushed through the large corridors of the ship, toward where the boy knew was the Bridge. Few pickets and patrols were encountered along the way, as they took position next to the large bulkhead next to the bridge. He racked the bolt of his AR, then slid his hand over the holographic controls... The door slid apart and soon, the Command Crew of a dozen Elites with two dozen Grunt guards revealed itself. Two Frags rolled inside, below the feet of an Elite Zealot, which's jaws opened wide upon sighting the pinless human bombs... Before it could dive out of the way, the grenades blew, sending its corpse up sky-high, blown apart.

Gunfire then echoed across the ship's Bridge. Purple, blue and black blood splattered across consoles as the Aliens, without shields, fell dead under the whittling barrage of firepower. A Plasma Grenade stuck to a grunt, which ran into three of its comrades. The grenade blew, vaporizing part of the Grunt's corpse and killing the other three, melting their armor.

Aiden signaled cease-fire... And the UNSC guns fell silent without so much as a bark back from the Covies... The Spartan dashed forward, followed by Buck and two other ODSTs. He stopped in front of a console, took out the AI's chip, then slid it into a port that, luckily enough, fit the crystalline item. He then took a guard stance as the Console flowed with pure white energy, instead of the Covenant's rainbow of colors... And an Avatar materialized. A white ghost, clad in winter clothing, a white cloak and with what looked like a Mosin Nagant rifle leaning against his shoulder.

"Simo! See if you can't get us out of here and fast! I think the Covies are gonna realize we hijacked their ship pretty s-"

Just as Aiden was about to finish his line, Plasma struck the shielding of the ship. The hull shuddered and groaned with stress... The AI hummed, then nodded and vanished within the console... Jonah felt a sudden, but light gravitational pull. Its engines roared and it lurched forward, out of the line of fire. Jonah looked outside through the holographic viewports and saw the trailing Plasma and laser fire striking beside, or right onto the faint shields of the ship.

It shuddered again as a direct strike from two Torpedoes burst part of the aft section's shields and boiled plate away. Lasers snapped like tendrils toward them, bouncing off or dissolving on and stripping away layers of armor. The Spartan gritted his teeth as he saw Seraphs tailing them, with the bigger ships, from Corvettes to two CCS cruisers, tailing them.

"Spartan Aiden. I can't break through the encoding of the jump matrices for this ship. The only FTL jump I can make is a blind one... One slight miscalculation and we're gonna die worse deaths than the Soviets near the Mannerheim Line." The AI said, his voice that of a human male's, with a thick Finnish accent to boot. Aiden sighed, looking at the console...

"... What do you say, boys?! It's the only way we have outta this shitstorm of plasma!" Aiden asked the ODSTs...

"The fuck do we have to lose, sir? We're gonna die eitherway!" Buck barked back. "Might as well make our escape a memorable death to the Covies, since we stole one of their ships."

"I think we can all agree on that!" Romeo noted, slinging his sniper on his back. "Flip them off one last time before we go to hell."

... Well, the Spartan couldn't agree more. He tapped com and said "Ready up, boys and girls! We're making a jump blind into the middle of fuck-all knows where. Might as well have a nice sendoff toward the Covies. Brace for the jump and God help us all!" then shut off the Com and gave the signal to the AI. The Spartan saw space ripple before them... Then form into black portal, its outline blue like a whirlwind... As it entered, two more Plasma shots struck the ship. Warnings blared... And they jumped.

Blaring alarms, a shuddering ship and armor peeling and boiling away from the main hull. The jump, whatever had happened, fucked up. They were losing critical mass for a normal exit vector from Slipspace and for all they knew, they may as well have been jumping into a star. Aiden gritted his teeth as he saw Plasma coil levels going critical. The ripple in space-time they were traveling through was fucking dangerous and the boy could swear he saw the faces of his long-dead parents in the hypothetical, Physically impossible 'tunnel' they traveled through...

The sudden jolt of deceleration was incredible, nearly throwing the Spartan off his feet(and actually doing that to the ODSTs), even with artificial gravity. But Aiden's training helped him brace while his ODST comrades tumbled to the floor. He felt the ship's sublight drives kick in, just enough to evade a collision with what looked like a set of asteroids.

"... We are alive." The AI stated calmly as he brought the ship to a slow, grinding halt...

Aiden sighed deeply, taking his helmet off, then looked out of a viewing port and saw it... They were above an Earth-like planet, with planet-spanning oceans and what looked like actual continental masses, proof enough to Jonah that they were alive. And safely above an actual planet... He sighed, then put his helmet back on his head and wasted no time to ask "Damage report."

"45% of the Hull was compromised by Plasma. A further 15% was compromised by our uncalculated travel through slipspace. Main batteries of Plasma and the Laser below are inoperable. And the Plasma coils for the Slipspace jump drive are empty, with no means of recharging. The FTL drive also broke down and refuses to respond, but is otherwise seemingly safe. Translation:It won't blow up in our faces if we leave it unchecked. To put it shortly, we're a cruise liner stuck with only Sublight engines." The AI returned...

"Fucking wonderful... At least we're alive." The Spartan returned. "Tell Alice and the others we're gonna go on an expedition down to the planet below... But we have to rest for now and evaluate our shit, including ammo count and whatever else we've got aboard this Covie ship we can use to fight, provided shit hits the fan... Also, do me a favor, Simo. If we have any sensors, use'em to scan down below."

"Already on it. May I also recommend using the Covenant ship as an HQ?" Simo noted, calmly, to which Aiden simply nodded, taking a seat to catch his breath... Well, Into the Unknown they went once more...


	2. Hit the Deck

The Spartan regarded the planet below with a sense of familiarity. The resemblance to Earth was unnerving, but even more so that there wasn't any sort of orbital defenses. He sighed, crossing his arms as he walked toward the console where he'd left Simo... Before an alarm blared. Holographic screens, those that still worked, flickered onto rear-view cameras and the Spartan and ODSTs stared at the incoming ships with disbelief.

Black-hulled, small and nimble, of resembling reverse trident hull shapes. One had heavier armor and a bigger MAC than the other... UNSC Frigates. From smallest to biggest:Stalwart Anti-Fighter, Charon-Class Multirole and the Paris-Class Heavy... The Paris-Class had its name inscribed onto its side... And the Spartan took pause as he read it. UNSC _Diamond in the Rough._ Following them as well, was a massive battlecruiser, Halcyon-class... The UNSC _Battle Cry of_ _Freedom_. Its hull, geometric, beautiful and lined with armor, was also full of heavy cannons, Archer and SHIVA tubes. Enough to bombard the planet below for a sustained 30 hours.

Following it in were the UNSC _Pittsburgh_ and _Patton,_ the Charon and Stalwart, specifically. A com ping sounded off from the Marines' and Spartan's Radio. He tapped the button, then spoke "All allied units on this frequency, this is Sierra Bravo 141, please identify and confirm that I'm not seeing random shit on my visor." as he saw the ships come to a stop alongside the Covenant ship's hull. The Spartan remembered the _Patton_ being commanded by a woman whose ancestor was the late general... And there she was, on one of the holoscreens appearing with a smile on her face. She was a woman in her early 30s, black hair caught in a bun and scarlet eyes. She wore a white dress uniform with the rank pins of Captain. Following her, appearing on two more separate screens were the commanders of the _Diamond_ and _Pittsburgh._ The _Freedom_ then showed up as well, dividing one screen in half,

"Sierra Bravo 141, we hear you loud and clear." The Captain noted.

"Surprised to see the _Freedom, Pittsburgh, Patton_ and _Diamond_ in the same squadron, Captain... Two questions, if I may." The Spartan noted, grinning to his ears. The Captain gave a nod, allowing the Spartan to ask "One:How the fuck did you four hide? And two:HOW THE HELL DID THE _FREEDOM_ HIDE?!" to which the crews and captains all laughed. Captain Patton gave a nod to him.

"It's a real long story, Aiden. But thanks to your timely intervention aboard that Covie warship, the rest of their fleet was too busy trying to wipe you. Enough so they didn't notice us slip by." The Woman smiled. "Not even the _Freedom_ hoped those fuckers would be that blind." And she looked to the Captain of the Halcyon cruiser on her screen. He nodded back.

UNSC birds launched around the ship. Fighters and the likes, preparing to bring the UNSC crew aboard the _Freedom._ And deploy an engineering team to strip what they could from the Covie Corvette. The Spartans and their little squad all arrived aboard the _Patton_ with little fuss. Alice was carted off to the medical bay, whilst Aiden went for debriefing alongside the ODST officer, Buck.

Walking the more claustrophobic walls of the UNSC warship felt like a return home for the Spartan and ODST Officer, compared to the gigantic corridors of the Covenant warship. They looked out, to see a picket fighter squadron escorting Pelicans back on board, perhaps for the sake of recovering technology stowed aboard the vehicle. Plasma and other such tech.

Marines ran past them, saluting the Spartan and the ODST as they quickly marched, MA5B ARs stowed on their backs, toward the Hangar. The Spartan raised a brow, then elected to ignore it. He'd ask about it at the meeting between the Captains and them. As they entered the Bridge, they were greeted by salutes from the UNSC Troops present aboard. The bridge was as large as was normally expected of a Halcyon-class. And at the forefront was an actual captain's chair, overlooking the holoscreen that usually bore the Holomap, but now housed the faces of the other Captain sand their XOs.

"... I agree, Captain Hewlett, but we need to remember that the situation we find ourselves in is precarious..." Patton spoke, looking over her own screens from aboard the eponymous ship. "Dividing our resources to try and explore the planet below, even as we detect faint radio signals, could prove problematic. If the Covies traced our random jump..."

"They did not..." Simo's voice came over the com. "I made sure to scramble Covenant Tracking as best as I could."

The Halcyon's captain looked over to the Holo-table in the center and saw the caped figure of the Sniper AI appear from within a strand of white snow. He grinned behind his mask and said "I'm Simo. UNSC AI SMO-0134. Smart-class infiltration AI. One of Doctor Halsey's earlier prototypes."

"Thank you for joining in, Simo." The Captain nodded. "You are certain our backs are covered, right?"

"Yessir..." The AI gave a nod to the man. He was a tall, lanky man with black eyes and greying hair. He wore the standard UNSC Admiral's fatigues. He had a burn scar on his right hand, creeping from under the buttoned wrist of the dress shirt. The man looked over behind him, to Aiden and Buck having joined them. The duet of Spartan and ODST brought up their hands in salute, to which the Captain stood up and smiled at them.

"Boys. Good to have you back." The man noted as he saluted back. "At ease."

The two took an at-ease position. And Aiden stepped in "Sir, you were planning on a groundside op to see what we can find down there?"

"Affirmative on that one. Just gotta get my colleagues to see things the way I do." The man noted.

"I'd like to offer myself up for the job, sir. No need to send Marines or anything else." The Spartan said calmly.

"Wow, wow, wow. Easy there, Spartan." Buck looked at him smugly. "Don't think you're leaving me and my team behind." before both turned to the Captain, who had cleared his throat. They then gazed back to Simo, on the holographic display, as he pulled up an image of a sound synthesizer. He lined it up with a smirk and let the noise play... And what came was a bit of a surprise...

 _"Gallian High Command, this is the 3rd Armored Regiment. Requesting immediate backup in the Kloden sector. We're under attack by a harassing force of Imperial Jaegers and light armored vehicles."_ A female voice spoke, seemingly scared, but maintaining a professional posture in her speech.

" _This is Gallian HighCom. I'm afraid reinforcements are currently unavailable, Colonel. You are to retreat and assist the evacuation of Bruhl as soon as possible."_ The voice of the radio operator manning one of the High-Com stations sounded off. " _We are attempting to assign a Regular Infantry Regiment to attach and assist, but for the time being, you will have to make due with what few tanks you have."_

 _"Shit... Roger that, High Com... Colonel Graff out. Thanks for_ nothing." The female voice spoke and the Radio cut off...

Hewlett looked over to his fellow captains, then said "Sounds like whoever's down there's having a nice old war..." before standing up and looking over at the planet below. Specifically, down at the horsehead-shaped territory down north of their Pseudo-Europe. "Captain Patton, may I suggest you deploy with a Spartan or Marine Escort to wherever this High-Com's transmission came from. Meanwhile, Gunnery Sergeant Buck will deploy with Alpha Nine and another bit of our Marine contingent to secure this Bruhl... Hard Drop."

"You got it, sir." Buck nodded, grinning behind his helmet.

"Political moves, Captain Hewlett?" Patton asked. The man gave a nod and she smirked "I'll be deploying with one Spartan and my Marines down to the deck, sir. Aiden? Care to join us?"

"Ma'am... With all due respect, let Adi go with the ODSTs... God only knows the Replacements will need it." A female voice, full of smug, came up from behind Aiden... He turned back, eyes wide, to see Alice on her feet, her wounds patched up already. She had a new helmet slung under her arm with a thicker visor and more plating. A CQB/CQC Helmet. She bumped Aiden, who was smiling, on his shoulder, before continuing "I'm good at political talk and such. Learned it from my days with ONI. So, if you require a Spartan escort, I'd be more than glad to tag along."

"Good to see you're feeling better, Lieutenant." The female Captain smirked.

"Spartan." Buck nodded.

"Ain't going to hell just yet, Gunny... If I do go first, I'll send you a postcard." The woman gave the ODST a toothy grin... He gave a thumbs up as answer and Alice turned to her old time friend, patting him on the shoulder before saying "I got this. Docs were able to fix me up fast enough, so I'm at 100%."

"If the place turns into a shooting gallery?" Aiden raised a brow.

"I'll punch my way out just for the hell of it." Alice winked, grinning.

Aiden gave a nod, grinning right back, before saying "Alright, Cap. Looks like we got our escorts and are ready for a hot drop." before drawing his sniper. "I and Buck will be in first. See you all groundside." before saluting and stepping off with the ODST. The two slid their helmets on their heads and stepped off. Inside the drop bay of the UNSC Halcyon-Class, the Spartan boarded one of the Drop Pods, while ODSTs followed suit close behind. Buck tapped the com...

"Attention, all ODSTs aboard the _Freedom._ This is your Gunny, speaking. We'll be dropping in hot and assisting locals on the planet below to fend off some kind of assault in a local village. Hold on to your teeth, ask questions before you shoot and expect a hot drop. That's all." Gunny spoke. And the PA went dead. Aiden set his helmet tight on his head, then looked as the lower bay began to open.

... And soon at least sixty pods detached. Blue smoke and flame trailed as the Drop Pods left the mothership and adjusted course in unison for a targeted drop area. Soon, fire surrounded the pod as the heat of reentry played with the shields. Aiden's faceplate polarized to stop him from going blind due to the superheating of the light outside and the Drop Pods adjusted their direction.

Breaching through the upper atmosphere and a layer of clouds, the Drop Pods soon found their landing spot below. Empty, emerald fields with the are windmill surrounded a burning village below, whose defenders seemed outmatched by the enemy army corps. The Spartan felt the 'chute of the pod kick up and, a few seconds later, detach as the bottom thrusters engaged to slow descent... And with a clang, the pod landed in the open field. The Spartan kicked the door aside and drew twin M7 Caseless SMGs, whilst on his back, his SRS 99 waited.

The Spartan raised his twin SMGs and watched as the Drop Troopers landed, some within, some outside the town. IFFs found their way onto his HUD and the troopers of the 63rd Drop Battalion found themselves around the soldiers. He showed the Troopers to form up... And soon, a first shell erupted over his head. A short 75... He looked over, to see it. Clad in red armor, surrounded by soldiers in white plate and brown uniforms... A tank and its complement of knightly infantry.

"We've been engaged! All ODSTs, you're free to fire!" The Spartan said, before kneeling, slinging his SMGs to their mount and drawing his SRS-99/99. It thundered and two enemies were flung and killed by the high-powered, large caliber round. And the shot still had enough power to punch through the light tank's side armor. Weakly armored AFVs vs something above 50 cal. Not a good combo.

ODSTs poured out lead from their MA5s and M7 SMGs, with some even hauling Sparrowhawk launchers. One such launcher fired and a rocket... It screamed through the sky and punched clean through the tank's side armor with enough strength in its detonation that the turret was flung skyward, with the second gun, what appeared to be a large mortar, popping out of its front mount as fire escaped from the barrel and the cupola.

Soon, the ODSTs mounted a concerted effort. Staccato rifle fire gutted through the lightly-armored foes of this 'Empire' while the UNSC suffered no casualties. The Fireteams of ODSTs joined up and maintained spacing all the same while advancing through the town, with Aiden providing the much-needed sniper support to clear out enemy units. The group finally arrived to where the concentration of foes was thickest... A Gate on the west side of town, from where civilians tried to escape an onslaught of enemy forces.

Sitting behind a sandbag fence, a young woman raised her gaze to meet the oncoming deployment of black-clad soldiers. She took a moment to register them all, when she saw one of them pounce over the side of the sandbag fence and set up his strange-looking rifle on it. Following him was an armored giant, who scanned the surrounding rooftops with his rifle, before saying "Area clear!" as the others joined in. The tall, lean giant looked over to the woman. She had brown hair and hazel eyes and wore a baker's red bonnet... She was a beautiful girl by all means, but for now, Aiden had more pressing matters to worry about. He knelt in front of her, (Still towering well over her current height as she too was kneeling behind cover), then asked her "Miss, what's your status here?"

"U... Uh, what?" She asked, shaking her head. "Oh... We're under attack. Imperial troops just suddenly marched into town and started firing on whoever they could see. Not sure of our casualties so far, but... We gotta keep this gate safe. It's covering Civilian escape..." and she saw another man jump in beside the tall armored fellow. He was more gangly, but wore a similar armor to the other boys around, all of whom were heavily armed.

"So, keep the wooden gate safe for people to get out... Sounds easy enough." Buck noted, racking the bolt of his AR.

"Don't jinx it, trooper." Aiden hummed. "What's your name, miss?"

"I'm... Captain Alicia Melchiott. Town Watch." The woman said.

"A pleasure... Now, if you'll excuse us." Aiden stood up and shouldered his rifle... The thunder of the shot reverberated throughout town and nailed an Imperial Officer trying to lead a second wave of assault troops toward them. The round punched clean through, flinging his helmet off his head. Buck looked to his team and said "Fire up, Troopers! This is gonna get hot!"

The ODSTs set up their weapons, took positions and readied themselves to kill any oncoming threat. Alicia looked over to the Spartan, then asked "W... Who the hell are you people?!"

"We, missus?" Aiden grinned, staring down the scope of his rifle "We are the Cavalry."


	3. Hit and Run

**_Meanwhile... Somewhere else._**

Above the fields of the planet they were on, Alice found herself holding close her MA5 and with a new helmet on her head. She scanned the surrounding area and watched as three other Pelicans tailed her own. Beside her were a squad of Marines, all looking mighty ready to kick ass. Hopefully, the Marines wouldn't need to dump rounds into anyone... Six quickly caught a radio transmitter out of mid-air, took her helmet off and looked to the pilot. He nodded and said "We've got a link to the folks here. Gallians, they call themselves, ma'am..."

"Play nice is the order, I assume..." Six sighed. She slid the com piece beside her ear and spoke calmly "Attention, people of Gallia..." She thought the name of the country up, but it seemed to have worked... "I am Lieutenant Alice-B312, of the UNSC warship _Patton_ and situated aboard UNSC Pelican Kilo2-3. We're currently on approach to your capital to discuss the terms of an agreement relating to mutual defense, our unit being headed by one of the Captains of our picket fleet. We politely request not to be welcomed with fire unless you want to take fire right back... Kilo 2-3 out..."

Patton looked to Alice and said "Think they're gonna play nice?"

Alice shrugged "Dunno, ma'am. If they don't, we can always gun it out of the place." before racking the rifle's bolt and sliding it onto her back. She put her helmet back on and saw below that garrisons of soldiers clad in blue seemed to turn their gazes up. She squinted and the helmet auto-zoomed onto them... Bastards were wide-eyed and with loose jaws, it seemed. Must've never seen a flying vic before.

The aircraft swept in, engines thundering as it prepared to touch down. Six saw the tall, medieval walls and pallisades that protected what stood as the capital of the small country of Gallia. Troops in Blue marched below, rifles on their shoulders and led by a rotund man with a scraggly beard. He wore what looked like a general's uniform and, well, by the look on his fat face, he was just as shocked as the rest of his troops and the people when the UNSC Vehicles touched down.

Patton gazed upward as the thunder of a pair of Jets came from overhead. The Delta-shaped black aircraft were UNSC Longsword interceptors that had provided a low-flying escort until the Pelicans arrived at the Capital... Patton stood up first, followed by her Marines and Spartan escort and left the back of the ship. And to say that the soldiers of Gallia that came to greet them went paler was an understatement. Patton didn't know if it was because of the Marines' Battle Dress Uniforms, Six's MJOLNIR Armor or the fact that they carried what, to the people here, must've looked like severely more advanced weapons than theirs-which was true-but she didn't want to make a scene...

Noticing the man had the pins of a Two-Star General, she brought her hand up to her head and said "Greetings. I'm Captain Patton of the UNSC warship with the same name." before extending her gloved hand to the man and saying "We're here to talk a possible and ostensible treatise between our two forces in regards to the little Imperial problem you seem to be having."

"Ahm..." The man before her took a pause and then said, his voice like sandpaper "Welcome! Welcome to Gallia! I am General Georg von Damon, Commander in Chief of the Gallian Military and I've been sent by her Highness, Princess Cordelia gi Randgriz, to escort you and your soldiers to the Royal Palace." making Six and Patton eye each-other, then him, suspiciously... With a nod, the group of soldiers marched down the center-most Boulevard of Randgriz, under the gazes of the people here. Some seemed surprised, others, awed and many, frightened. Women held their 'ooh-ing' and 'aah-ing' children close, staring at the Super-Soldier and her Mean Green Marines, as well as the Captain, with fear...

"Locals seem a bit off-put, ma'am." Alice muttered, keeping her own MA5 close to her chest, but keeping the safety set.

Patton gave a nod "We've landed in their backyard with aircraft which, I will assume, they don't have, putting aside the clear tech gap between us. We've also come armed and with about twice as many men as their own welcoming party... It's safe to assume they think we're here to occupy them..." and she stepped up beside Damon, before saying "Your people needn't fear... We're not here to cause any sort of ruckus between our armies, nor are we here to occupy... We're just here to talk... Perhaps even settle the dispute between your people and this Empire."

"Believe me, Captain..." Damon muttered "If we could settle a talk with those Imperial dogs to stop any kind of war, we would've done it beforehand."

Patton hummed... "So, to them it's full annexation or nothing?"

"Unless you've got more men and guns than them, yes." Damon answered.

"Well... Fun." The woman smirked "Orbital armaments are a fun thing to tote behind a paper."

Damon seemed a bit concerned himself now, eyeing the woman both with a hint of hidden disgust and a hint of surprise... Six snorted as she stepped up beside the Captain and said "General, hasn't anyone told you it's not polite to stare?" snarkly. Damon turned away, muttering something under his breath as they reached Castle Randgriz... The Captain looked up and whistled...

"Your Princess has a nice home." She said almost absentmindedly... The Guards propped open the doors to the blue-hued Palace and the squadrons of uneasy soldiers walked inside, to be greeted by deep-blue halls, rugs and a spiral motif. The place was almost cathedral-like... And the throne room they entered made it even more obvious that the Spiral was something that was part of their motif...

Seated on a throne at the top of a pyramid stairwell, a young woman watched them enter. Her mouth slightly ajar as she saw the Platoons of Green-wearing Marines and the Spartan step in. Six stopped and turned to the Captain. Patton knew this was a kingdom simply from the fact that was a throne, so, to show respect, she took a knee and bowed her head. The Spartan, noticing what the woman was doing, followed suit... And the Marines too... it was a show of respect... And a show to the people of Gallia that the UNSC would respect sovereignty.

"Rise, please. "The girl said, blushing a bit... The Captain and her men followed the request...

"My Lady, I'm Captain Patton, of the eponymous UNSC Warship currently orbiting your planet... I and my people are-"

The girl raised her hand to stop the Captain, her eyes shimmering with excitement as she asked "Did you say... Orbiting our planet? Are you, perhaps, Extraterrestrials?"

Patton winced, then saw Damon stare at them, definitely shocked by the Revelation and the Princess smile. She nodded and said "Yes, I guess you could... Call us that, Your Highness... We've come down to your planet to discuss a possible alliance, maybe even a Safe Haven for me and my compatriots, in Gallia." and looked the girl right in the eyes. "We've a small picket fleet in orbit and I've been elected among all captains to be representative of the UNSC's presence in your Star System..."

"It is a pleasure to meet you and your compatriots, Captain..." The Princess gave a nod, standing up and walking down the stairs to meet the Captain on even ground... Patton soon realized she was taller than the girl, who, perhaps, was a teenager. She noticed faint worry in the girl's eyes, but most of it was overshadowed by the hopeful and mirthful smile and gaze... Patton gave a nod.

"And our honor to meet you, My Lady." The woman smiled back. She looked over to see a man in a blonde wig and long dress-like attire walking down beside her. "I presume this is your regent?"

"Maurits von Borg." The man gave a nod. "And indeed, Captain... Welcome to Gallia."

... He seemed less welcoming. Still, she hummed and continued "So... Of the talks? What do you say?"

"We welcome you with open arms... Please, Captain, follow us." The Princess said, motioning toward what seemed to be a meeting room with a table... The Captain looked to the Gallians, then to her troops. With one hand motion, she sent the Marine group back to the Drop Ships and then proceeded to wave Six to her side. Six and the Marines respected the Captain's orders... And the women and Gallians walked to the meeting room, while the Marines walked off toward the Landing Spot...

As the Politician, General, Captain and Princess found themselves seated, Six elected to stay on her feet, eyeing the room. Her instincts kicked in as she scanned for escape routes and watched as a few Gallian Guards streamed in too, weapons at the ready, but fingers off the triggers. The Spartan leaned against the wall behind her, rifle hanging off her rigging and arms crossed to her chest.

As Damon looked over to Patton, he spoke calmly "Let's skip the formalities for now, Captain... What kind of weaponry do you bring to the table?"

Patton eyed the man and spoke "Armored Fighting Vehicles, tanks, Transports, gunships and aircraft... The fact that no craft similar came to intercept me and my crew mid-flight leads me to believe neither Gallia, nor the rest of this world have access to combat aircraft of any kind. Correct me if I'm wrong."

"You're right." Damon gave a nod "Most people saw Planes as a waste of time and resources when more money could go into the Military. We never used Aircraft."

"Well, that's fatal mistake number one." The woman denoted. "And one of the good reasons to bring us aboard. Let me paint it this way for you:You've got a column of Imperial tanks heading toward your position. Your anti-armor options and tanks are deployed on some other mission... But the enemy doesn't have any air cover or any means of stopping an aerial assault. That's where we come in. Aircraft fly in low, their Rotary Cannons and rocket pods make short work of the Imperial vehicles and any infantry that may've been brought in as escort, without even batting an eye, then fly out of the area. The enemy has lost irreplaceable assets and has no way to stop it from happening again unless they pull back their forces and start researching ways to counter our Air Power..."

"Which, going by the fact no nation here uses Air Power due to some misconception about it being useless, is gonna take them a good few months, if not full _years_ , to size up even Jet Propulsion, to allow them to keep up with our aircraft. In short, we got your asses covered in three dimensions:Sky, Space and Ground, while yer Imps ain't got shit to stop us." Alice stepped in and spoke her part. The Captain gave a nod, as did the Princess. The girl and the Spartan exchanged glances, before both turned back to the table... Damon scratched his chin and Borg did much the same...

A woman walked up beside the Princess and whispered something in her ear. The girl nodded... And both Six and the Captain noticed that the woman was clad in a military outfit. The Princess waved the woman off, before speaking calmly "Taking up the advice of my military counselor, General, I'd suggest we accept... An advantage such as the one brought forth by Captain Patton and her allies cannot be negated."

Despite noticing a scowl on Damon, Patton maintained her expressionless poker face... The man ran fingers through his beard and asked "Do your air vehicles allow for fast deployment of troops?"

"Within hours or minutes, depending on the distance required to travel." Patton stated.

"I see..." Damon hummed. "What other advantages do you bring to the table?"

Patton smirked, then looked back to Six and waved her forward... And barely now did everyone in the room feel the temperature drop. The Spartan took her helmet off her head and her piercing, ice-blue eyes locked onto the duet of men present in the room. Leaning onto the table, the woman began to explain "Rapid deployment of troops, advanced armor and armaments and the promise for Technological Enlightenment that's sure to propel you a good few centuries into the future, as well as the promise of an Alliance between the most technologically advanced Human populace currently present in your nation and you..." and she grinned "That good enough for ya, General?"

... Damon wanted to speak, standing up to retort to the insolent soldier, but Borg's hand landed on his shoulder, pulling him forcefully back into his seat. He motioned to a servant to bring a piece of paper and started drafting the treaty. Six looked over to the Princess and gave her a nod, before turning her head to Patton and grinning. The two girls bumped fists. After the draft was done, it was extended to Captain Patton... Borg pointed to the left and said "As a signatory to the UNSC. We've already signed on the right."

The woman nodded, reading the paper over calmly. From top to bottom, she saw no hidden meaning. Just an alliance, a promise of technology and of bettering Gallia as a nation and... Hmm... Sending a dignitary? Interesting... She looked to the Princess, noticing the Honor Guard, then looked to Six and pointed at the written document... The Spartan leaned in and read it, before noticing Patton pointing at the Princess. Alice gave an approving nod to the Captain, before straightening up... Patton, meanwhile, looked over to the two politicians and asked "Is it alright if I leave Noble Six as our Liaison and perhaps as an added member to Her Highness' honor guard?"

The Princess' face lit up immediately. She gazed over to Borg... And the man gave a nod. "Certainly."

That was okay then... Finishing up the re-read of the document, the Captain signed. She motioned to Six to join the Princess and the Spartan went to the girl's side, smirking and leaning down and speaking "Sup, Your Highness... I'm Alice." before raising her hand "Let's be friends, shall we?" to which the girl nodded, shaking Alice's hand with a smile. The Spartan straightened up...

And Patton looked ahead and spoke "Well... I do believe that concludes our meeting. If you need me or any other UNSC Captain, ask the Lieutenant to patch you through to us." before standing up and taking the contract with her. She folded it and slid it into her pocket, before looking to Alice and saying "El-Tee, do behave yourself while we're away, okay?"

"I'll do my best, ma'am." Six winked. Patton snorted... Man, she missed the girl.

Now, though? Onto other things...


End file.
